The 2010 Haiti Earthquake
Location: The epicentre was located near the town of Léogâne, which is approximately 25 kilometres west of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. (See figure 1.1)
Date/time: 16:53 local time on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010.
Description of the event
The earthquake was caused by a “blind thrust” fault action along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault system, which had been building up stress for the past 250 years. A blind fault is a rupture in a lithospheric plate that does not reach the surface of the Earth. According to researchers from the University of Colorado, the rupture was “approximately 65 kilometers long” accompanied by lateral movement of 1.8 meters on average. The event recorded a magnitude 7.0 and an intensity associated with the IX category of the Modified Mercalli scale.
Impacts
The 7.0 earthquake killed an estimated 240,000 people, injured another 300,000, and left more than 1 million people homeless. These numbers are staggering in comparison to its magnitude. In comparison, only 63 people were killed and 4000 injured after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in San Francisco in 1989. Some of the reasons for this include the shallow focus, the event taking place in a heavily populated area, and the poor economic status of Haiti. Devastation to this developing nation was inevitable due as Haiti suffered from lack of a seismic protection building code, poor foundation of buildings, and poor building materials. Many buildings were made using
The earthquake occurred on the 12th of January 2010, a slip along the conservative boundary situated along Haiti caused a significant earthquake with subsequent damaging aftershocks. As can be seen in figure 1 the shaking intensity was strongest at the epicentre of the
On January 12th, 2010, the small country of Haiti was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). The 30-second disaster was just the beginning of a collection of aftershocks that then struck the country relentlessly for days (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). Many areas were reduced to rubble leaving approximately one million Haitians homeless and 350 000 dead and another 300 000 injured (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015). The ill-prepared country was sitting on two tectonic plates- the Caribbean and the North American, where there was slippage resulting in the earthquake (KS3 Bitesize Geography). Following the environmental catastrophe, the international community responded, and a relief effort began (Haiti earthquake of 2010, 2015).
NEW YORK—Starkies-Davis announced today a total donation of $8 million to organizations providing direct help to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Starkies-Davis clients generated $6 million through global trading commissions
The San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906 was one of the most devastating earthquakes felt by a lot of states. At 5:15 am, this earthquake which registered at 8.25 on the Richter Scale shook San Francisco, California. The earthquake lasted less than a minute and it did a lot of destruction in that period of time. The most destructive part during the San Francisco earthquake was the fires which began after, as a result of the earthquake. The fires killed about 3,000 people and left 400,000 homeless (San Francisco Earthquake). The San Francisco earthquake epicenter was located near San Andreas fault and as a result, the damages caused by the earthquake was felt many miles along the San Andreas fault line. The city of San Francisco was known for its culture and economy, and because of the impact of the earthquake and fire, the city was in total disaster. Because of the magnitude of the earthquake and the amount of damage it did to the city of San Francisco, a lot of data and digital images have been collected so that it can be used for references and be displayed at its anniversary.
Earthquakes have afflicted the world since its inception. The sudden release of energy from volcanoes or displacing of earth plates can result in disasters of extreme magnitude. These usually naturally occurring phenomenon have been responsible from wiping out entire towns throughout history and until today continue to produce major loss of life and infrastructure. It can take years for a city or country to recover from a major event of this kind and when a third world country is involved, the result is usually exponentially worse than in a developed country. In the past decades Japan, Chile and Haiti have suffered the devastation an earthquake produces. This document will concentrate in Haiti, a small country in the Caribbean. On
The January 12, 2010 Haiti Earthquake caused an enormous destruction in the Caribbean nation. Hospitals and government buildings collapsed along with an unbelievable amount of homes. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and many more were wounded. The disaster added more misery to people already struggling to get by with everyday life. Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world. The January 12 quake demolished almost every major building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. About 5,000 schools in the city were destroyed or damaged. Throughout Haiti, more than 220,000 people were killed, and more than 1 million were left homeless. A few days after the quake, the number of survivors stood at 121 as hopes of finding more became
On August 24, 2014 a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred in and around the city of Napa, CA. The earthquake killed one person and injured over 150 people. And these people were treated at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa [1]. More and more earthquakes occurred on this earth. So this grasps people’s attention.
• This earthquake may not have released all of the strain stored in its rocks next to the fault this reveals a potential earthquake in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the near future. The occurrence of the earthquake showed that the Earth did not exhaust all its strain and hence other earthquakes could be expected. However, the dates could not be predicted. The extent of the damage could have been much more devastating for the region, but with the earthquake occurring near the coast this made half of the felt area westward in the Pacific Ocean. The occurrence of aftershocks ten days later reinforces the unpredictability nature and hence makes Geology to be a study that is always evolving. In conclusion, the Earth and the study of cannot be exhausted as every natural occurrence provides a new puzzle to be solved.
On January twelfth 2010, a deadly earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit the coast of Port au prince, Haiti for 35 seconds, killing around 200,000 and leaving approximately to 1.5 million of the population homeless including kids who became orphans and vice versa in a matter of less than a minute. Before the earthquake, the way of life was not as bad as portrayed back at home, most of the news broadcasted in the mainstream media were exaggerated news, negative light and unfair tales to make Haiti look inferior.
The article says that the 2010 Haiti earthquake was worse than the 2011 Japan earthquake. It says ”Obviously the toll in Japan was much worse. But it’s not: The losses in Haiti amount to perhaps twice the GDP there”. Although there was both an earthquake and tsunami in Japan while only an earthquake in Haiti, the earthquake in Haiti was much worse. The natural disaster that hit Haiti caused many more injuries, deaths, and people left homeless, therefore it is much worse.
In 2010, a devastating earthquake hit Haiti. Desiree LaFave was one of four oregon midwives to respond. She was on the first plane into Haiti, alongside doctors and other midwives. Desiree LaFave should be recognised as a hero for her bravery, passion, and determination.
On January 12, 2010 on of the world’s deadliest earthquakes struck Haiti. In his book, Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, Mark Schuller analyzes the presence of humanitarian aid agencies following the disaster. He discusses the impacts the aid had on the environment, development and globalization of Haiti.
The 2010 earthquake that took place in Haiti was a natural disaster which caused massive destruction to the environmental, social, economic, political and physical structure of the country.
On January 12th, 2010 there was an earthquake in Haiti, with its epicentre near the town of Léogâne , approximately 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. It had a magnitude of 7.0. This left 220,000-316,000 dead and 300,000 people injured. 1.5 million People were initially displaced. The people displaced were placed into 1500 different camps. In these horrible conditions most would think that the high density would be the prime factor.
Over 6000 people died in the earthquake, 30,000 were injured and 300,000 were left homeless. approximately 80% of the people that died were crushed to death by falling buildings or furniture. 150,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. 1km of the Hanshin expressway collapsed during the earthquake. Approximately 120 out of 150 of Kobe’s ports were destroyed. The fire following the earthquake then burnt 1km2 of the suburban area. Emergency services were unable to reach all of the affected areas because of the damaged roads. Hospitals were very crowded and there was a lack of medical